Wolverine #38: War Buddies

Wolverine #38 is part two of “Last Mutant Standing.” The previous issue found Wolverine with Bruce Banner as they tracked down the remaining clones of Wolverine. With issue #38, we find Wolverine recruiting Captain America for help to take down the Legacy House auction. “Last Mutant Standing” feels somewhat like of like a victory lap for Benjamin Percy or a world tour playing nothing but the hits. He has been the sole writer for Wolverine since the beginning of the Krakoa era and readers from the beginning will know that the Legacy House plays a significant role in Wolverine.

Much like the case with part one of “Last Mutant Standing,” issue #38 would benefit from being expanded to two or three issues, but that is in a greedy sense because this issue is so much fun and readers would love to see more of stories like this. We get one issue with the Hulk and now one issue with Cap, and issue #39 will be with Black Panther. The story possibilities are endless, so Percy has to pack a lot into the single issues. Juan Jose Ryp’s art and Cory Petit’s lettering do an excellent job getting the reader to where they need to be without being lost or rushed. Seeing Cap and Wolverine side by side is always a treat and Percy puts them in some situations where Juan Jose Ryp can have a blast with the art. Seeing Cap block bullets and bounce his shield in between storage containers at an attacker followed by Wolverine swiftly slicing through a gun is so satisfying and the exact thing you want out of these two characters.

Percy fits in some humor and wholesome moments as well such as when Logan comments that the clothes they just stole from Legacy House guards don’t fit and Cap says something like “not everyone is shaped like a box”. The ending of the issue contains a really nice moment too. In a Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque ending, we see a warehouse where all of the Mutant items are going to be kept safe. When Nick Fury asks Cap if he thinks the mutants will make a comeback, Cap says “The good guys always come back.” We see Wolverine riding into the night which is exactly what you’d expect out of a story like this. Wolverine recruited Cap to take down some bad guys, and when the job is done he’s off to the next adventure.